Viola arena no more? (IAW is back)

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
Thread starter #21
Talking of companies who seemed to be sponsoring everything at one stage, whatever happened to that betting firm who sponsored the Play Offs?

I assume the marketing managers do their due diligence on these heavily branded companies and take payments up front, but they do seem to fall by the wayside a lot of the time. They must take a huge gamble by blowing mega bucks on sponsorship in the hope that it will pay off, if it doesn’t they end up in liquidation.
The problem is that when it comes to sponsorship, the big sports get first pickings and the likes of ice hockey often have to pick up whatever is left. This is why it caused so much of a stir when bt was onboard because it bucked that trend. To be fair, those were the days of face off on BBC Wales and BT got massive exposure. For some small companies doing sponsorship, as well as the publicity, I suspect there are some tax benefits. I just hope that in a post covid world hockey in general and the devils in particular can attract sponsors.
 

kingmo19.1

Well-Known Member
#22
If you asked 3,000 Devils fans who Viola were and what they did, you'd probably have got about 2,500 blank expressions in return.

Poor branding and a non-memorable company name to boot - and easy to confuse with Veolia.

I hope the old IAW illuminated logo was kept in storage as that looked very good - and helped clarify the purpose of the building to which it was attached to.
 

Gough60

Active Member
#25
Viola also had a sponsorship deal with the Scarlets. I have no idea the length of their contract was, but looks as if another Welsh regional team missing out on much needed funds.
 

Imp

Active Member
#26
If you asked 3,000 Devils fans who Viola were and what they did, you'd probably have got about 2,500 blank expressions in return.
Which is a shame, because sponsorship would be worth far more to the club if fans took a bit more of an interest in it.
Curious little marketing exercise at any sporting event, see how many taxis at the venue match the advert on the shirts of the home fans.
Sports sponsorship, like a lot of advertising, is a tenuous proposition and there are responsibilities on both sides to make the most of it.
In most cases, for this level of sport (and below), I strongly suspect the motivation is personal more than any hard business financial analysis. Someone at the company has enough of an interest to direct some of their marketing budget in the Devils' direction and figures they can leverage it enough to justify it in their own mind (and on paper, if you don't look too closely). Networking is a thing and it's almost impossible to really say what actually works, so you can get away with spending the money.
It seems reasonably obvious to me that the Cardiff Devils Organisation has a genuine understanding of the relationship between club and sponsors. At the same time, I don't think it really ever occurs to many (If any) of the fans that those names contribute, and that doing a little more than simply ignoring them is hugely valuable to the club.
 

James

Administrator
#27
The arena sponsorship would be with the IAW not the Devils. Although they sponsored the Devils too to a lesser extent, and I know the arena and Devils are in some ways entwined it shouldn't have a massive knock on effect to the club I don't think.
 

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#28
Networking with the Corporate world was a skill, if you can call sucking up to new rich a skill, of a former employee of the Devils.
 

terry hunt

Well-Known Member
#39
I always thought that BT was one of our best sponsors serious committment to the Devils.
Perhaps with their new interest in NHL and i think John Jones is still around.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#40
BT as Terry says was definately our best ever sponsor, and with the Gentlman John Jones at the helm they did our club proud. Great times to be a Devils fan, as they certainly are today.
 
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